Apollo, God of the Sun
by Mr.OrangeBliss
Summary: Unova fell into chaos when the new champion took over, outlawing Pokemon. Apollo, Bianca, and Cheren stumble onto a discovery that will lead them on a grand adventure that others would dream of. They became the hope Unova needed.


"Apollo! Wait for us!"

A young man turned his head back towards his two friends following after him. He laughed harshly and replied, "Or you need to speed up! We're trying to escape, not get caught!"

The teenagers kept running, their breath coming out harshly. They had been running for the last 10 minutes, trying to escape from the damage they had created. In the lead was Apollo, holding onto the dark blue stocking cap that kept trying to fall off from the rushing air. It could be said that Apollo cared more about fashion than being warm, and it'd be absolutely true. Even though it was the middle of winter, Apollo wore a blue scarf, a downy vest over a white shirt, and tan boots.

Trailing just a bit behind was his friend Cheren. Cheren was gripping the straps of his bag so hard, the fabric would never be the same. He only looked for the blue scarf ahead of him, his glasses fogging up from the activity. Unlike Apollo, Cheren cared about staying warm, wearing ear muffs, gloves, full winter jacket, and dark brown boots. Anyone could bet that underneath all of that outerwear, he had another layer of wool, and they would be correct.

Falling behind ever so slightly, Bianca desperately tried to keep up. It wasn't she was out of shape, or she had a restrictive outfit, but rather she had twisted her ankle while escaping from the warehouse and was feeling the pain. She was wrapped up in a long poncho, black leggings, and white boots. She called back up, her voice weak, "Apollo... Please! I need to stop!"

Apollo glanced back, but kept running at the same speed. He turned sharply, and yelled back, "Soon. We're almost there!"

Bianca groaned, but kept running. If her ankle wasn't going to be swollen later, Apollo's face would be after she beat it in.

Slowing down, Apollo came to stop in front of a large tree. Bianca stumbled towards the tree, collapsing onto the floor, gripping her ankle. Cheren slowly sat down next to Bianca, catching his breath from the exertion. Apollo turned towards the group, "Good job, guys. How did we make out this time?"

Bianca glared up at Apollo, but proceeded to dump out her satchel. Cheren followed suit, pooling together the items. Apollo dropped down next to his friends, emptying his bag into the growing pile. It was a modest collection: a few cans of fish, a small bag of dried berries, and a few other bits and ends. Apollo whistled, a small smile growing on his face, "Nice! This should help our town into next week at least. It's been awhile since we've had berries... I mean, it's dried, but it's still better than what we have now..."

Cheren nodded, "Next time we should try to go deeper in the wing. If the dried berries are on just the surface, imagine what's further in?"

Apollo nodded back. Bianca groaned, she had finally gotten her boot off. She pulled off her sock to reveal a nice, red bruise starting to form. She whimpered slightly, "Ow... I knew something happened when I tripped over that pipe..."

Apollo took a small gasp, and frowned, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know Bianca, I woulda... I woulda stopped if I had known."

"It's ok. We couldn't have stopped anyways. If we had even stopped for a little bit, who knows if they would have caught us or not. It's ok. We had to get away," she replied, gathering a handful of snow and gently putting it on her ankle.

"We'll take a short break here, make you an ice pack for that ankle, and then head back. With this stash, we can probably take a longer break than before. Hopefully enough time for you to heal up," Apollo directed.

The pair nodded in unison, and leaned back to relax. It was well deserved.

Ever since they were young, 15 years to be exact, the friends had been stealing to provide for their town. Every Monday they would meet up and plan out where they would hit, how long it would take, and what the route they would need to take to escape. Tuesday they would do a preliminary check of the planned heist. And Wednesday they would hit. They would follow the plan they set to a tee, because even if they might have gotten lucky with a few slips, you never know what might go wrong later. Friday they would distribute the good, hiding low on Thursday in case any person finally got smart and checked the town. Saturday, Sunday they would recoup, and do it all over again on Monday.

It hadn't always been like this, but with the new Champion regime in Unova, they didn't really have a choice anymore. When the new Champion took control, he immediately got to work, siding with Team Plasma to enact his plan. First it started out simply, with stricter restrictions on how many Pokéballs you could purchase at once, under the guise that it would help uncommon Pokémon repopulate. Then it started to become worrisome, when he removed the Elite Four privilege to vote on region changes. And then it became absolute terror when he outlawed Pokémon.

Like a machine, Team Plasma swept across Unova, storming into every house and confiscating every Pokémon seen. Team leaders were allowed to keep their Pokémon, expected to uphold the law of the land, squashing any rebellion with their status. Some gym leaders went with the changes, others fought. At the end, it didn't matter. Team Plasma cleaned up. Even wild Pokémon weren't free from the changes, as Team Plasma went and thoroughly captured any Pokémon they came across. If you could find a Pokémon, it was rare.

With no person with Pokémon anymore, no one could stop the changes Team Plasma enforced on the towns later on. The champion didn't care; he just wanted to maintain his rule, and that involved Pokémon. So Team Plasma went unchecked, running rampant with new laws. They implemented curfews, rations, and monthly reviews of each household. To insure there was never an uprising, Team Plasma purposefully crippled any attempt that it could happen. Any rebels were all too hungry, too depressed to even think about fighting. They wouldn't say it was a dictatorship, or a military state, but it was. That's all it was.

The kids had fallen back to surviving, and surviving with their village. Bianca had suggested they had to do something, anything to help. Cheren mentioned how it was unfair that the Team Plasma warehouses were always fully stocked, and yet small towns couldn't even survive. And Apollo put the two together. They wouldn't sit by anymore as their family suffered. And who else would do it but the three musketeers?

And that's how it had to be. And that's how it would be for now. Because this little resistance was only the start of the grand adventure these three friends would go on.


End file.
